The High King: A Tale of Alus (39 page)

A dozen men dressed in brown and red followed Gerid back to the capitol city the next day. Catiya rode along with little Simon in a black carriage drawn by a pair of graceful, black-haired mares. His fiancée had insisted that she go with her betrothed. He had promised to spend time with her and his son and Gerid didn't even fight her wishes. Spending extra time with her, before he was forced to leave once again, was fine with him.

So it was the castle guards were surprised by the new knight's entourage when he returned. They simply had a squad of grooms and stable boys take care of the horses and carriage. A warning that Gerid was to be allowed free run of the castle had already been issued. He was expected. That the admiral was the king's protector, or at least his daughter's, was not necessarily as well known. The fragile hold of the monarchy was not to be discussed. Even if Colona died, Gerid figured that they would say nothing of the magical way that he had suffered.

"Are you sure about this, Gerid?" Karma asked quietly as they entered the castle doors. "She asked for you as protector, not me. Will the princess agree to your leaving so soon?"

Gerid shrugged, "I can serve her best by finding help for her father and leaving you to guard her while I do so. What can she say?" The real power that he had over the royal house was just dawning on both men when they were met by one of the many aides to the royal family.

"Sir Gerid, the princess is awaiting your arrival." Looking at all the men in the colors of the Holtein house following behind, he added, "I don't think that she planned on so many to be with you, sir."

Gerid nodded. "Have another page show my guards to my new suite. They'll bring my luggage and other things that I need. They'll stay there until I get a chance to get them places to stay."

The steward called over another young man to escort his guards away. When Karma and Catiya remained by his side, the man gave him half a glare, but led them into the castle halls.

Their final destination was a new place that he had not been to yet. A set of doors, with the royal crest set in gold upon the stained oak, was opened after a quick knock on its surface by their guide. Another man dressed the same as the first opened the doors and gestured them inside with a bow. The first man disappeared without a word.

Princess Allisand, dressed in a dark blue dress with her long, dark hair flowing freely down her back and shoulders, came over from where she had been sitting with her ladies to greet him. She looked a little surprised to see Catiya and Karma, but asked only for an announcement.

"This is my future brother-in-law, Karma Holtein. He is here with some of his men to act as your personal guard and to see if he can find your father's attacker. This woman is his sister and my lovely fiancée, Catiya Holtein. The little boy, who looks a lot like me, is my son Simon."

The princess smiled politely and nodded to each as they bowed or curtsied. With his son's name announced, she added, "Named after your brother?"

"I named him when I feared that I would never see my brother again. With his return, it gets a little confusing sometimes."

Allisand nodded and gestured for them to follow her towards the fireplace where the chairs were arranged. It was too warm for a fire, but it remained a charming centerpiece for the room. The maidens all rose and left as they approached the chairs.

After taking their seats, the princess asked, "What do we do now, Gerid?"
"I have arranged what I could to help protect you and your father, your highness, but really all we can do is wait and hope that we find a cure for your father's illness. As I said, I have brought Karma here as your personal guard, if you'll accept him. A dozen more of his best men are in my suite right now. We can get uniforms for them like those of the rest of the castle guards, so that no one will notice the change overmuch."
"Your face betrays that you may have bad news for me, Gerid," the woman stated gravely. "I would like to know what it is."
"I am sending my brother on a personal mission to the north and I have to set sail to finish the charge of your father that he gave to me while he was still well. I will be gone, but I will also try to keep my eyes and ears open for another wizard that may be able to give me an answer to what has happened to the king."
The princess' green eyes darkened even more than they had been when he arrived. The stress of the past weeks was eating away at the beautiful, young woman. She looked to be almost ten year older than her eighteen years or maybe even more. "You are leaving me," she sighed. "I had hoped for more from my protector. You said you would help less than a full day ago."
"I know," he answered and stood with a feeling of nervous tension. Starting to pace, he stopped as Catiya touched his leg and gestured back to the chair. "I hate to leave you, but I leave you in excellent hands. He has been trained to be of more help than I in a castle. Karma is the likely successor to both the Holtein mercenaries and his family's holdings. He was groomed to be both warrior and scholar. I was told that his father was nearly knighted. The son of an almost knight will serve you well, I think.
"Besides, as protector and an admiral, I have to see to the threat of the pirates."
"Threat?" Allisand questioned angrily. "They harass shipping, but they hardly threaten our lands. This mission of yours will not save my father. I think that you do this for other reasons. Are you to fail me so soon, knight?"
Gerid's eyes narrowed angrily in return. "Your highness, I told you that I can do nothing but try and keep you from the same fate as your father. Karma can do that for you. If need be, he can summon hundreds of soldiers to your defense from the mercenaries alone. His uncle and father are wealthy and well respected. Your armies would follow them, if you asked them to do so.
"I am just a warrior, Allisand," the woman raised an eyebrow at the use of the familiar. "I can do more for you by sending my ships to various countries to search for a wizard's help than I can do for you here. You are right that the pirates are not a direct threat to this land, but your warships and merchants need the use of the water to keep your country strong."
He paused to let her think upon that a moment before continuing, "There are many reasons that I need to try and find the pirates. First, we still do not have the proper powders to use their cannon at full power, which makes their ships more deadly than ours in a battle. Second, they must have wizards to produce such devices and they may have a cure for the king. Who knows, they might have cast the spell on him as well. Third, I have a distant hope that I might convince them to join me as allies. With their strength and our assistance we could offer them wealth and even lands in Kloste once we have defeated them. If we conquered Kloste, we would probably find the cure for your father, don't you think?"
The princess looked unconvinced, but she replied, "I cannot stop you from going, sir admiral. You leave telling me that you hope your efforts will not be in vain, but I hope that you are correct. I fear that you will leave me and my father will die while you are gone, and then what will we do?"
Gerid sighed, "If your father is going to die from this spell, I cannot halt it from here. If I stay here, all I can do is wait for one of your wizards to discover the cure. Leaving, at least, gives me a chance to do something useful."
An uncomfortable silence took over the room. Even his toddler, seemed to know that he should not interrupt. After several minutes, Allisand looked at him again, "So be it, admiral. Unless you have more news for me, I think that our discussion is through."
They made ready to leave Allisand when she added, "Karma Holtein, could you stay a moment longer? I would like to discuss some things with you."
Gerid opened the doors for Catiya and his son. The guide was waiting and, without a word, he led them to find their new quarters.

The Marisian camp sprawled across a great valley with woods to the west and north framing the tents and campfires with some protection from full scale assaults. To the east, another wide valley led into the enemy encampment. A pair of hills rose like sentries where the two met and atop them Terris spied what appeared to be several low towers on each crest. Stone parapets were impressive enough, but he wondered why they had bothered to build such things when the encampment appeared to want to stay mobile. There were no trenches that he could see as they approached from the northeast and that led him to believe that there was something suspicious about the towers.

Iylin noticed his attention and grinned without saying anything. He was waiting for Terris to say something foolish, the fallen king thought. Being a diplomat and groomed to kingship, he would allow himself to say nothing. Finally, the sergeant answered the unspoken question, "The wizards have left their monoliths as guards. They are less of a threat than one might think, but they look impressive, especially at night."

It was a reasonable query given the first answer. "I couldn't say. The wizards seem to be the main
reason that the stone has come alive. To what extent
they have given the golems senses and intelligence, I
wouldn't know."
"Or would not feel comfortable sharing," Terris
continued the unspoken.
The sergeant smiled and pointed at his nose as
the sign that his guest was on target.
"If the wizards are the main reason for control
and life for the stone, I hope that you have hidden them
well from Merrick. He'll want a chance to find them with
his assassins as soon as possible, I'd wager."
Iylin didn't answer as a sentry stepped from the
shadows laying beneath the northern hill. Terris hadn't
been able to spot the man before he had revealed himself
to them. The men of Maris were very skilled at the art of
hiding themselves. Even if Merrick did destroy the main
army, these men and others would probably serve to
harass his armies for the rest of his rule.
"Halt," the sentry ordered.
Iylin paused before saying, "Iylin, sergeant of
border patrol three. We have guests to bring before
General Falack. They have news for him and requests for
help as well."
"Don't tell it to me then, sergeant," the sentry
stated. "I just look for the enemy."
"We aren't what you are looking for then," Iylin
replied sarcastically. He turned to Terris and gestured for
him to follow. "Come on."
Two more sentries accosted them before they
could finally reach the edges of the main camp. Soldiers
in the faded purple of Sileoth blended among the more
numerous green and orange plaids of Maris. The loud
contrast of color almost hurt the man's eyes to look at
them together.
Thankfully, Iylin led them quickly to the center
where two large tents sat with the purple and silver
banner of Sileoth atop one and the blue celitrose flower
sat on its plaid field. The colors would have made him ill
if the darkness hadn't served to mute the flags despite
the orange glow cast by the campfires only a few
hundred feet away. Guards showing the uniforms of both
allies stood guarding each tent.
The yeoman took them to the tent of his kingdom
and addressed the sentries so quietly that even Terris
could not hear his words just a few steps away. After only a few moments, Iylin told Terris that only he could enter. The guards took his sword and dirk to hold until he
returned from his visit.
Inside the tent was the brightest lighting the
man had seen in the camp. Several torches lit the edges
and another pair hung in the center from the poles
bracing the canvas two feet above them. The light
allowed him to see nearly a dozen men moving about the
interior. Most were aides to the man, gray haired and still
looking strong. He was decorated with a plaid cape like
many officers of Maris. With the brown of his leather
armor, the cape was easier to look at than on some of
the soldiers he had seen.
The general stood up, towering over Terris by a
few inches, shortly after their entrance and gestured for
the visitors to come nearer. Iylin looked uncomfortable as
the older man gave him a solid hug around the shoulders
and greeted, "Welcome back, Iylin my son. Your old baron
of a father has missed you since you took charge of the
border."
Looking about to blush, the yeoman pointed
towards Terris, who was seeing the family resemblance
now that it was revealed. The younger man’s hair was
still brown though both had blue eyes and a similar face.
"I've brought a guest along as well, general. I think that
he has some important things to say to you. An offer of
alliance and some news out of Hala."
The general gave both men an appraising look
before turning to his son. "This must mean he is more
important than you lead me to believe. Whenever you call
me general, Sergeant of the Guard, it is always important
business. Who is this man? What does he have to offer?" Terris sent a piercing stare to Iylin. The general
made the younger man's position sound more elevated
than a normal sergeant's. He had also leaked that the
general was a baron of Maris. He asked coolly, "Sergeant
of the Guard, Iylin? What kind of authority does that rank
really entail?"
The general looked amused and answered
instead, "Said he was just a sergeant again, eh?" Iylin glared at the general, "It isn't nearly as high
as your former rank, King Terris. As I said before, I am as
much a regular soldier as you are just a rebel." Terris said nothing, but cocked his head awaiting
the answer.
"I am Sergeant of the Black Guard, the king's
border guards and sometimes personal bodyguards. A
sergeant's rank that, in your realm would be roughly..." "A colonel, I think, though I had no such separate
force for my guards. I have heard of your Black Guard
though. The rumor is that you are the best snipers in all
the lands."
Iylin shrugged, "We train only the best men we
can find. Years of training make them better. Now, if we'll
return to why you are here, resistance leader Terris?" The general nodded, "Yes, what has brought a
man like you here? I thought that Merrick had killed you
already. You seem alive enough."
"General Falack, I am here to discuss an alliance
that can benefit both of us. You need information and,
more importantly, help against Merrick's armies. We
need arms if we can get them as well as a safe haven for
some of our people who are in desperate need." The general sat down on his chair and shrugged.
"We have the monoliths. Merrick won't defeat us too
soon, sir."
Terris moved forward and took the most
comfortable looking chair left and sat opposite the man.
Iylin remained standing and ushered out the other men
that hadn't already left the room. Standing at the
entrance as guard, Iylin waited for Terris to justify
himself.
The former king's eyes narrowed slightly,
"Merrick brings more of the dragons and gargoyles to
fight you even now. How long do you think that your
wizards can keep up with the monoliths?"
"Long enough," Falack replied gruffly.
"It takes magic to craft and bring the creatures
to life, more to renew that life each battle and even more
to guide them from afar. That is what I have heard of this golem magic. If the rumors are accurate, Merrick's assassins have already killed a few of those wizards
needed besides.
"His sorcerers keep themselves safely hidden
away deep in the mountains of northern Marshalla where
they continue to bring over the gargoyles and dragons.
His creatures may have lost some of their lives to your
creatures, but I'll wager that they learn from each
mistake and bring a greater loss to your armies each day.
Is this assessment correct, general?"
The general answered carefully, "I do not know
how much magic is used and I would hardly tell you if
they are succeeding in hurting us, if they were!" he added
quickly. "Our forces are strong enough to keep Merrick at
bay, Terris. Unlike your knights, the stone is nigh
invincible in battle."
Terris knew that the last statement was said
merely to get a rise out of him. He smiled evenly, "The
gargoyles were stronger than any man made defenses we
could raise. My knights are among the finest soldiers as
the Black Guard are among the finest guardsmen. I hear
reports that those that fight under Merrick still kill
almost three to one against your men not protected by
the stone warriors. You have no forces except the
monoliths and maybe the Black Guard that can outfight
them. With the dragons and gargoyles gradually stopping
your golems, your human forces are losing too many men.
Deny that, general." Terris knew that the general would
not appreciate his words and he was correct.
"You sorry excuse for a king!" Falack growled
and jumped to his feet. "You dare insult me in my own
tent among my own troops! I'll kill you, do you
understand?"
The man swept aside the table between them
and went for Terris' throat. Hardly moving in his seat,
Terris countered the attack with a twist. After sending
the man sprawling, the general made to try again and
was similarly rebuffed. He was about to draw his sword
when Iylin caught his father's wrist stopping him. "Father, don't! If you do this, we lose him and his
knowledge. Listen to him now, calmly, and ask the
questions that will help us win this war."
Falack returned to his seat, though he glared at
his son in the process. "How did you throw me so easily?" Terris smiled coldly, "That is just one of the
things that I can teach you. If you are willing to listen and
to help us, I can teach you a better way to fight the
knights and the other soldiers. Maybe, just maybe, I can
teach your men enough to win."
The general's face suddenly fell. He looked tired
and worn. "I think that we will need more than just your
teachings. You were right in saying that our magicians
are weakening, though I do not know if they will falter
before Merrick's demons will.
"We were hoping that Kardor would help us, but
their king waits to see who will win. He hopes that both
sides will wear themselves out before he needs to face
either. Without them, we may run low on soldiers if the
war lasts too long."
Nodding quietly, Terris said, "And that is why we
need to start helping each other. Are you interested?" The general looked stronger once again and
nodded.